What a wealth of information to take in. In the meantime, I have bought a copy of Cabrera, some needles and thread, an off cut of cloth - and am eagerly learning and practising the basic stitches. When I am ready, I would like to make a thread documenting each stage of the making of my first pair of trousers!

I went to the local library yesterday, according to their database they had Cabrera's book, but I couldn't find it there and neither could the librarians. I biked home again and just when I was at my door, the postman came with the needles (from Prym) and the thimble I had ordered. Later that evening, I ordered the book from Amazon.co.uk, it seems like it's sold out in every other store. "Usually dispatched within 1 to 2 weeks." Guess I have to train my stitches during that time.

My local fabric store doesn't stock worsted wool, it's a shame. I will see if I have some here at home.

I see some Cabrera's books on eBay at amazing prices. Seems to be sold out everywhere, and there is a fashion for learning tailoring...
I just ordered myself the women tailoring book, since I hadn't bought it yet and I'm afraid soon it will only be available on the used books market for unreasonable prices. Even today, there are some sellers on Amazon who ask 30% more for the used book than the Amazon price for the new book ! I don't understand...

Worsted wool : you can buy online. There are good sellers on eBay, and some merchants have online store. There is a good list here on the forum.

But beware about ebay. There is a sleight chance you are buying yardage ends or fabric with quite a bit of weving imperfections. Take time to carefully check both sides of the fabric and mark any imperfections before you lay out your patterns.

I would love to be able to buy fabrics from eBay, but because of my age I can't get an account myself and my parents are very suspicious of buying things from the Internet (especially getting an account on PayPal, buying things from stores on the Internet is not always a problem).

Vimsig, I'm not sure what stage you're at, but some advice for beginners starting from the very beginning: when starting out, you don't need expensive cloth. The first couple things I put together were from cheap wool fabric from a local sewing store. This way you can practice your steps, making pockets and such, without worrying about messing up the project. They even sell some cheap canvas that I started out with.

Once you move on to making a complete coat, there's a lot of little materials required that are best found from Internet vendors (like collar canvas), assuming you don't have a local tailors supply shop. Or you might be able to find a tailor locally that can help you with finding some supplies (once you've introduced yourself and thoroughly buttered them up with your raving passion for tailoring and evidence of your efforts so far).

DSKT is very right. For beginning, learning handsewing basics, how to make pockets, etc, any cloth similar to wool will be good enough. I've used a lot of cheap 100% polyester stuff for a long time, and still sometime do, to try things. I don't use it a lot anymore because I have a big pile of wool scraps.

Even when you will be ready to try your first pair of trousers, you can start with cotton drill or something like that.

Don't waste your money on cloth yet. Save it to buy good tools. Cloth will go to the bin. Tools you will keep and use.

I have got some poly-wool (I think) fabric and some very stiff cotton fabric that I will try to work with. Stitches and pockets on the poly-wool fabric and trousers (when I am ready for it) with the cotton fabric.

Also, Nishijin, is there any way I could change my display name? I don't really feel like it's representing me, I just wanted to use it when I made the account.

So, I just got an e-mail from Amazon where they told me that they wouldn't ship the book because they were "unable to source the following item", the supplier informed them that the item is no longer availabe.

Note that Amazon.co.uk stated that there were two books left for £34 each after they sent me the message there are two books selling for £82.77+, each.

What should I do now? Does anybody know where I can still find 'Classic Tailoring Techniques: A construction guide for menswear' for a decent price? Does alternative books exist? I need help, I want to learn to sew so badly and problems like this are just making me sad and angry.

EDIT: The German version of Amazon has got the book in stock, but a price of €53 and a waiting time of 2-4 weeks (before they begin to ship it) is to much for me.

I want to learn to sew so badly and problems like this are just making me sad and angry.

For basic stitches you don't need expensive books to show you how. Check for sewing books in Swedish, that sort of thing usually exists in every language imaginable.

"Nur der ist Meister seiner Kunst, der immer sucht, das Gute zu verbessern und niemals glaubt, das Beste schon zu haben.""Only he is a master of his art who always seeks to improve the good and never believes to have the best already"

Yes, for the basics of hand sewing, you can use any book that shows them.
And hint : there are even some scans here on the forum.
There are also scans of old sewing manuals on the Internet which describe how to hand sew. Nothing has change since the 1920s. Actually, those books frequently explain some details that are not talked about in modern books.

BTW, if my memory's right, Cabrera does not include the basics of hand sewing.

If Cabrera becomes unavailable, then we will have to recommend Sam Hostek's books. They are very, very good, but the organisation of the books makes them less user-friendly for beginners.

BTW, I just bought Cabrera's ladies tailoring, it has been shipped yesterday. So I will have both now. I bought it from Amazon.fr

I have found some prints on the forum and have started to learn the stitches, but there will come a day when I will move on to constructing (which I meant with sewing, sorry if I was unclear) actual clothing, and by then I will need the book. Thank you for all the help!

And still; does anybody know where I can still find 'Classic Tailoring Techniques: A construction guide for menswear' for a decent price?

Why not try a local book store? the book has an ISBN number and is therefore listed. Try/ ask if they can get it at the ordinary price...

"Nur der ist Meister seiner Kunst, der immer sucht, das Gute zu verbessern und niemals glaubt, das Beste schon zu haben.""Only he is a master of his art who always seeks to improve the good and never believes to have the best already"

How to Make Men's Clothes by Jane RhinehartThis is a good beginners book. She has a nice trousers pattern, though the top of the seat seam can be to high, so beware of that, and a nice method of making. Her directions for making a coat is good. She has something about shirt making which is nice. Some of what she explains is what I learned when I was 4-5-6 years of age. Back in the early 1960s somebody asked my Granddad (from Sweden) about the method of trousers hip pockets that is in this book- he didn't care for it, but it is nice for twills. What he didn't like about it is from pocket to waistband is one layer of pocketing. It shows how to make a piped single besom pocket (believe jets are narrow and besoms are a bit wider).

Cabrera's books are nice. Some of Cabrera's lessons is what I was also taught. Poulins books are nice (he explains balance pretty good). Poulin also shows a simple way to make a breast pockt which can have rounded corners. Hostek is kind of a hard task master. His coat book has some valuable fitting lessons. And, as said above, some of the older books posted here are also invaluable.

Yes, for the basics of hand sewing, you can use any book that shows them.And hint : there are even some scans here on the forum.There are also scans of old sewing manuals on the Internet which describe how to hand sew. Nothing has change since the 1920s. Actually, those books frequently explain some details that are not talked about in modern books.

BTW, if my memory's right, Cabrera does not include the basics of hand sewing.

If Cabrera becomes unavailable, then we will have to recommend Sam Hostek's books. They are very, very good, but the organisation of the books makes them less user-friendly for beginners.

BTW, I just bought Cabrera's ladies tailoring, it has been shipped yesterday. So I will have both now. I bought it from Amazon.fr

Nishijin:

Cabrera does not cover hand sewing as far as I can recall either. The Hostek book is very good, and there have been at least a couple of excellent out-of-print books that have been scanned and posted on the forum.

With Hostek, it's not just the organization, it's the price. When I received that pricey PAMPHLET -- it's not even a book -- in the mail I was a bit dismayed. But then I thought, the folks at Cutter and Tailor must think highly of this book or else they wouldn't have recommended it.

There used to be a womderful site, vintagesewing.info. It posted numerous manuals from the past. It was cool to see how schoolchildren were taught sewing in 1918. Sadly, it seems to have disappeared. Some of the manuals may be available through Google Books.